Though SHOOT has been identifying, new, up-and-coming directorial talent for many years–on a weekly basis in terms of our news coverage, in the context of our Directors Series/Special Reports which regularly contain a feature on new helmers, and in the scope of our weekly “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery–this is just the fourth year that SHOOT has held a formal event, its annual New Directors Showcase, to put the spotlight on deserving, emerging directors.
And strange as it sounds, there’s a sense of mini-tradition that’s developed over that relatively short span. I remember in year two we had Nelson Cabrera as a Showcase director. That was just a year after Cabrera, a veteran first a.d. on commercials, was in the audience, starting to do spec work which was just on the cusp of garnering recognition in industry circles–with the possibility that one of the ads was going to gain airtime. It did–and a year later he was in our New Directors Showcase. He’s now with HKM.
We’ve seen a fair percentage of directors in these four years go on to great success, including director Michael Downing of harvest having his Budweiser “Skydiver” spot appear on the Super Bowl last year and finish first in the USA Today poll.
And the career progression that has taken hold is evident in this year’s crop. A number of the directors chosen for this year couldn’t be with us at the New Directors Showcase event at the DGA Theater in New York last month because, happily, they had gotten spot assignments. An example being Shyam Madiraju of V3 at Anonymous Content who was working on a Fox Soccer Channel job.
Plus there have also been signings. On the strength of his spec work at Group101Spots, Brent Jones, who came to the SHOOT event, recently signed with Aero Film, Santa Monica. The team of Zack & J.C. was also on hand at the DGA Theater and I had the pleasure of announcing that they had just agreed to join @radical.media.
Furthermore, just a couple of weeks after our New Directors Showcase screening, panel discussion and reception, work directed by two of the Showcase helmers garnered three honors at the prestigious AICP Show.
Earning distinction in two AICP competition categories was the work of New Directors Showcase helmer Adam Goldstein of bicoastal/international RSA. The Goldstein-directed Freelance Union’s “Hospital” was honored in the spec spot category. Goldstein, who recently moved over from his creative director’s post at BBDO New York to pursue a full-time directorial career via RSA, also served as creative director on “Hospital.”
Additionally, Goldstein scored in the copywriting category for the New York Homeless Coalition’s “Scaffold” from BBDO New York. Goldstein directed and teamed with Lauren Cohen to write the commercial, which was screened as part of SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase reel.
Meanwhile honored in the AICP Show’s student commercial category was Mountain Dew’s “Foley” directed by the duo of Zack & J.C. (a.k.a. Zack Resnicoff and J.C. Khoury). “Foley” also was screened for the DGA Theater audience during the SHOOT proceedings.
For the SHOOT staff, the bottom line is simple. Indeed the most gratifying part of the Showcase for us is seeing careers born and then progress.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More